Whiffletree



(No Model.)

G. REITER.

WHIFPLETREE.

No. 407,836. Patented July 30, 1889..

NITED ,STATES ATENT rricn.

GEORGE REITER, OF ALLEGHENY, ASSIGNOR TO THE PITTSBURG TUBULAR- STEEL \VIIIFFLETREE COMPANY, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

WHIFFLETREE.

SPECIFICATION fining part uf Letters Patent No. 407,836, dated July 30, 1889. Application filed February 15, 1889. Serial No, 300,045. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE REITER, a resident of Allegheny, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a 5 new and useful Improvement in Whiiiietrees and Draft-Bars; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to whiflletrees, neckyokes, and other draft bars for carriages, wagons, and other vehicles, its object being to provide a draft-bar which shall be light in weight and shall possess all the necessary strength for such purposes. It is well known I that the metal draft-bar has great advantages over the ordinary wooden bar in that it is not only more durable, but in that the fittings an d trimmings can be more permanently secured thereto. The most improved form of metal draft-bar heretofore in use has been made of wrought netal tubing tapering or gradually reduced from about its middle portion toward the ends thereof, it being found that by tapering the tube toward the ends the strength is very considerably increased. These tubular draft-bars have, however, been found objectionable in that they were heavier than desirable in order to obtain the necessary stiffness or power to resist the bending strain.

The object of my invention is to provide a whifiietree or draft-bar which, while possessing the necessary stiffness and strength, can be formed of tubing of less thickness and diameter than those heretofore employed, so 3 5 materially both reducing the weight and the cost of the article.

To these ends my invention consists in a whiiiietree or draft-bar formed of wroughtnietal tubing tapering from its middle portion toward the ends and having its ends cylindrical and its body fiat or oval in crosssection between the ends, so as to increase the strength and stiffness of the draft-bar in the direction of the strain thereon, and so provide for the use of lighter tubing, and at the same time provide cylindrical ends to re ceive the fittings or trimmings.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will describe the same more fully, referring to the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figures 1 and 2 are edge and side views, respectively, of my improved draft-bar. Fig. 3 is a central cross-section of the bar before it is flattened. Figs. 4c and 5 are enlarged cross-sections of different parts of the draftbar at the points 11 and 2 2, respectively, Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a view of the finished whifflet-ree having the fittings or trimmings thereon, and Fig. 7 is a view of the central fitting for the draft-bar.

Like letters of' reference indicate like parts in each figure.

My improved whiflietreebody or draftbar is formed of wrought-metal tubing, a good quality of wrought iron or steel being preferably employed for the purpose, and it is tapered from at or near the center toward the ends, the custom being to leave a portion in the middle of the draft-bar straight or free from taper to receive the central fitting, this middle portion being shown at (1-, and the tapered portions generally extending to the ends of the tube, as shown at Z). The body of the draft-bar is formed flat or oval between 7 5 the endssuch as between the points a c and has the ends cylindrical, the ends being shown cylindrical and tapering from the points 0 to the ends (1, this being shown by the cross-sections in Fig. 3, 4, and 5. Iprefer So this form of draft-bar for the reason that I obtain the necessary strength in the central portion of the blanks and stiffness in the entire body thereof, as the greater portion of the bar is increased in Width in the direct-ion 8 5 of the greatest strain thereon, and at the same time the curvature of the side walls of the tube is so reduced as to brace it in thedirection of the strain, so that the strainismore easily sustained thereby, and as the end por- 9 tions of the bar, which remain cylindrical, are considerably reduced in diameter and increased in thickness in the tapering of the blank the necessary strength. and thickness are obtained in the end portions thereof without the flattening, while I am enabled to employ cylindrical fittings for the ends of the blank, as is shown in Figs. 6 and 7.

My improved draft-bar may be produced in any suitable manner, the method generally IO( practiced and which is preferred by me being to first taper the tube by means of suitable swaging-dies and then to flatten it by compression within a suitable press.

When ,the draft-bar is employed for whiffletrees, I generally use therewith the fittings or trimmings shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the central fitting f being formed of the sleeve or collar corresponding in shape to the flat or oval blank and secured thereon by shrinking, and having a ring 9 or other engagingdevice in line with-the greatest diameter of the draftbar in order to hold it in the proper position to stand the greatest strain, and the end fittings being cylindrical, as they are more easily applied, and the fittings may be secured to the draft by shrinking or in other suitable manner.

It is found that my improved draft-barpossesses very in uch greater stiffness and strength than a cylindrical tapered bar formed of the same size and weight of metal, the flat or oval tapered draft-bar sustaining a strain of twenty percent. or more over the ordinary tapered tube, and for this reason the draftbars can be formed of tubing having thinner walls and being smaller in diameter, and consequently the weight of the draft-bar be very materially reduced, the ordinary singletree being reduced about two pounds in weight and the weight of the doubletree being reduced in proportion, and the draft-bars weighing bu little more, if any, than the ordinary wooden bars. tapered tubes is comparatively small, there is therefore alarge saving in the cost of the finished draft-bar.

WVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A Whitfi etree or draft-bar formed of wroughtmetal tubing tapering from its middle portion toward the ends and having its ends cylindrical and its body flat or oval between the ends, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I, the said GEORGE As the cost of flattening the 

